Mali Prime Minister Diarra resigns as military denies coup

Guelph Mercury

BAMAKO, MALI — Malian Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra resigned and dissolved his government after he was arrested by the army in the West African nation.

Diarra announced his resignation in an address on ORTM, the state-owned broadcaster. Modibo Traore, military spokesperson for public affairs, defence and security, said Diarra was arrested when he refused to resign before leaving the country for medical treatment, then attempted to go.

Mali Interim President Dioncounda Traore said on ORTM that a new prime minister will be announced Wednesday, and a new government appointed “in the week.”

“This was not a coup d’etat,” Bakary Mariko, a spokesperson for the group of soldiers who overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure in March, said by phone. “Given that he pursued his own personal political ambitions, the military has taken its responsibility and presented him with the facts.”

The U.S. denounced the military’s action. Diarra was “abducted by security forces loyal to the junta leader,” Captain Amadou Sanogo, and was “forced to resign and dissolve the cabinet,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in Washington.

“We condemn this act by the military junta and insist that it halt its continued interference in Malian political affairs and government,” Nuland said. “We view this event as a setback for Mali’s transition” and “its efforts to try to restore constitutional order and democratic government. The events of last night reinforce the need to get as quickly as possible to free and fair elections, ideally by April 23rd or as soon as it’s technically feasible.”

Diarra was released and is with his family, she said.

Sanogo said he “facilitated” the prime minister’s resignation, saying Diarra showed “excessive personal ambition.” Speaking on ORTM, Sanogo said “it was necessary to end that.”

“This development suggests that a solution to the political and military impasse in Mali is unlikely to materialize in the short term,” Samir Gadio, an emerging- markets strategist with Standard Bank Plc, said in an emailed note. “Diarra’s alleged personal ambitions may have frustrated some segments of the security forces and civilian elite.”

The removal of Toure in March left a power vacuum in Bamako, the capital, that allowed Touareg and Islamist rebels to take control of the north of the country, which vies with Tanzania as Africa’s third-biggest gold producer. The landlocked nation’s economy is forecast to contract 4.5 per cent this year before growing 3 per cent in 2013, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The United Nations Security Council is considering a plan already approved by African leaders for an intervention force of 3,000 troops who will train, equip and prepare Malian soldiers to fight for control of the north. Residents of Bamako protested on Dec. 8 to call for a quick decision on authorizing a military intervention in the north.

The council may decide on action in Mali within days, Nuland said.

Diarra, the former Africa chair for Microsoft Corp. and U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineer, was named prime minister of the West African state in April, after the military junta handed back power to a civilian government.